Mary Stuart
Mary Stuart, Queen Regnant of Scotland and Queen Consort of France, is the female lead and protagonist of Reign. She is the 16 year old Queen of Scotland. She is the wife of Francis, to whom she has been engaged to since the age of six and the mother of their unborn baby. She is also the ex-best friend of her lady-in-waiting, Lola, best friend of her ladies-in-waiting: Aylee, Greer, and former lady-in-waiting, Kenna. She was caught up in a love triangle between Sebastian and Francis, until she made a choice to wed Francis. While living at the French Court, she has had many challenges coming toward her, such as; Catherine plotting to kill her, Nostradamus' prophecy of Francis death, the duties as a Queen, trying to have a child with her husband, and the darkness that is filling her heart. Later on, Mary discovers Lola being pregnant with Francis' child which causes a wedge in the friendship whereas Mary no longer trusts Lola and cannot forgive her. Mary also gets word of Scotland being in danger and for the first time ever, she gets a taste of real power of being a Queen. When the Black Plague occurs, Mary is left the French Court's fate in her hands. She begins to struggle between justice and how court actually works. Mary is a member of the House of Stuart by birth and the House of Valois by marriage. She is portrayed by the Australian actress Adelaide Kane. Early Life Mary became the Queen of Scotland after her father died when she was only six days old. When she first arrived at French Court at the age of six engaged to Francis. She and Francis were playmates. She mentioned always chasing after him when they were young. Later, nine-year-old Mary was sent to live with the nuns at a convent for her safety. In the Pilot we see flashbacks of her and Francis playing with feathers and running up the stairs. Mary also mentioned learning to climb on a certain tree. Also that her and Francis used to wait to catch fireflies. ''Throughout Reign'' Mary Stuart/Season One|Season One Mary Stuart/Season Two|Season Two Personality "She was really a remarkable woman. There is a little bit of literature out there about her personality. she was very witty, charming - a very intelligent woman. She spoke six languages, she played two different instruments, she rode, she hunted. she danced, she played golf." - Adelaide Kane. Passionate and poised at the very beginning of her tumultuous rise to power, Mary is already a headstrong monarch. She will prove to be a formidable foe for anyone that stands in her way. She is also a great ally, as she wants to put people before herself. In For King and Country, Francis describes Mary as being headstrong, and strong in general. In Higher Ground, Cortenza de' Medici described Mary as being so talkitive and free with words as a child. I may live in France but I have the heart of a Scot. - Mary in Liege Lord As the series progresses, Mary becomes more stronger to stand for what she believes in. By the end of the first season, Mary has grown into an independent woman who will go to any length to protect the ones she loves and her country. However she will go against her husband and his family if necessary as she will always choose Scotland over France since they only have her. By the end of the first season, Mary becomes stronger and more willing to do whatever it takes to protect Scotland. She tells Francis that she can feel herself become harder. Physical Appearance Mary is a beautiful teenage girl with long black hair and hazel eyes. Her face is oval-shaped with a light skin tone. She is also tall and slim. Being a royal, when Mary is at court she is usually dressed in fancy attire and intriquet dresses. When she was at the convent, however, she was wearing clothes of a lower class. She wears dresses, as is appropriate for a woman in her time period. "From the beginning I had this vision of her as two women: she's the warrior queen and she's the romantic. And I always feel like usually we embody both of those elements in her wardrobe, so if there's a harsh or strong detail, it will be accompanied by something light and feminine. Sometimes it's even just her hair which works into that. Something that pops to mind is this Alexander McQueen gown that we put her in in the second episode, that she wears when she meets Simon, the British lord…It's this insane, beaded almost kind of armored gown, and with her hair down and soft, it kind of softened it up and made it a little more romantic and mysterious rather than just harsh. So I feel like that's the balance usually with Mary." -Meredith Markworth-Pollack about Mary. In Chosen, Mary awakens with a necklace. When she takes it outside to show to Sebastian she notices it has burnt her hand leaving a scar shaped like stag antlers on her inner hand. The scar or mark was not seen again after that episode meaning it had probably healed. Relationships |-|Romantic= Francis: Francis is Mary's husband. They are childhood friends whom have been engaged since Mary was six. Mary was then sent to the convent and hadn't seen Francis for years until they were reunited in Pilot. They start off to a rocky start after Mary's arrival due to Francis being with another woman just as Mary wants to spend time with him. When someone starts to plot against Mary, Francis suspects it is his mother's doing and decides to protect Mary by whatever means necessary. He also promises to be her friend and stand by her side. While spending time together and getting to know one another, Francis' ways begin to change as Mary has a better influence on him; however, obstacles begin to get in the way such as Olivia, Bash, and Catherine's plotting. Bash feelings for Mary cause them to drift apart and Francis to go to Olivia. When Francis finally admits his love for Mary leading them to make love and create a better relationship. When Mary learns of the prophecy, she leaves the French Court with Francis devastated. Mary is returned to French Court by the guards and tells Francis the truth of why she left. Mary comes up with a plan to protect Francis; by choosing to marry Bash which causes Francis to leave the French Court. They are later reunited when Francis returns to the French Court to save his mother. The prophecy is later changed after the death of Catherine's firstborn, Clarissa, allowing Mary and Francis to be together. They are now married and are currently trying to have a baby. (See Mary and Francis.) Sebastian: Sebastian is Mary's ex-fiancé and half-brother-in-law. They first met in Pilot when Mary returned to court engaged to Bash's half brother, Francis. Bash and Mary started as close friends but when Mary and Francis began having problems, Bash stepped in to comfort her and they shared their first kiss. When Mary began to believe in a prophecy that predicted Francis' death if she married him. To protect Francis she initially runs away from court with Bash. They are however captured and brought back to court. She then decides to marry Bash and have him declared legitimate. They become engaged. When engaged Mary opened her heart to Sebastian and they grew to love and care for each other. When they were going to get married in secret because the pope had still not legitimized Bash and they wanted to force his hand. Francis learn of the wedding, shows up and starts fighting with his brother. Because he learnt that the prophecy was really about Clarissa, Catherine's first born. Bash tries to convince Mary that they can still get married. However when Catherine tells her she has a choice, Mary chose Francis. After Mary made her choice, Bash was exiled from court and when he returned Bash was married off to one of Mary's ladies-in-waiting. Since his return to court Bash and Mary have retained a friendly relationship. (See Mary and Sebastian) |-|Familial= Catherine: Mary's relationship with Catherine started off antagonistic at the beginning of the series though Mary stated that Catherine was kind to her as a child. Mary had always believed that ever since her arrival at the French Court, Catherine has been plotting against her, not knowing why. Mary has had to keep her guard up not knowing what Catherine will do next. She has had the protection of Francis and help from her Ladies-in-Waiting to go up against Catherine. Later on, Catherine reveals the truth to Mary about the prophecy which causes Mary to change the line of succession; Francis and his brothers' losing the throne and Catherine losing her status as Queen. Catherine starts a series of plans to have Bash killed but fails after many attempts and is accused of adultery. Mary is apologizes to Catherine about everything that has happened, wishing for another way to save Francis and promises to take care of Charles and Henry Jr.. When the prophecy had been changed, Mary chose to be with Francis and starts to bond with Catherine. Catherine has been giving Mary advice to getting pregnant. (See Mary and Catherine.) Marie: Marie is Mary's mother. When Mary was still a child, she became engaged to Francis and Marie sent her to live with them in France. Since that time Mary and her mother hadn't seen each other or communicated much apart from a few letters. Until Marie shows up to French Court to get Mary to marry Francis. Marie isn't a very caring and warm mother and Mary knows she's being deceived as to the reason of her mothers arrival. They had a cold and strained relationship but when Marie was in danger in Scotland, Mary went to great lengths to get her mother to safety. James: James is Mary's illegitimate older paternal half-brother. Although they don't see each other due to the fact that they live in different countries. The two seem to be close and care about each other. Even though protestants are trying to put her brother on the throne instead of her, there doesn't seem to be any worry. She feels safe with him and he doesn't show any jealousy at his sisters crown. |-|Friendships= Ladies-In-Waiting: Mary has a different bond of friendship with each of her ladies. With Greer, a loyal bond of friendship. Mary can always depend of Greer whenever she needs something or if she is in a troubled situation. Mary is most closest to Aylee. Aylee is someone that Mary can trust the most; whenever she’s freaking out she can go to Aylee. Kenna is one of the harder friendships for Mary. Kenna is out for her own personal gain and Mary is trying to protect her from that. Mary does not have the easiest friendship with Lola. Mary and Lola have had difficulties in their friendship; such as, Lola blaming Mary for Colin's death and Lola sleeping with Francis. Their friendships and their duty are strengthened by being thrust into this foreign court and, at points, under duress. It is brutal and they don’t have their families and all they have is each other. (See Mary and Greer, Mary and Kenna, Mary and Lola, Mary and Aylee.) Clarissa: From the beginning before Mary even knew Clarissa's name they'd been allies. Clarissa had a protecting nature over Mary always letting her know of eminent danger of threats. Even saving Mary's life after Catherine had poisoned her in her bathtub. Altough Mary didn't see her as a bad person. When Charles and Prince Henry's lives were threatened by Clarissa due to her jealousy of Catherine's affection for them, Mary hit Clarissa in the head with a rock. After her death, Mary and the others still believed she deserved a proper burial ordering the soldiers to do so, although they ignored the orders. Clarissa was thought to be dead however this is not true. Louis: Mary and Louis first meet after Louis arrives at court with Francis. They quickly forge both a friendship and mutual alliance. As Louis has helped Mary with a few of her plans. He was the first person to know she miscarried after seeing her in pain. She begged him not to tell anyone if he considered himself a friend, as a good friend he didn't. But alerted Francis after that he should check on her. (See: Mary and Condé) |-|Enemies= Tomás: In the beginning when Tomás arrived at court Mary believed he had intentions for Greer. He however later proposed to Mary when they went riding telling her he was to be legitimized and could give her what France could not. Not long after, Mary decided to accept the proposal. Before they became engaged Tomás was very sweet and charming but later when things became more official, his true nature subsided and he became very controlling of Mary whom was still in love with Francis and after seeing Tomás' cruel nature, wanted out of the engagement. Tomás was after killed by Francis and Mary was out of the engagement. (See Mary and Tomas.) Olivia: Although Mary knew that Olivia was Francis' lover before she returned to court. She was kind and friendly to Olivia after she had been trough trauma in the Blood Wood. Little did she know that Olivia had returned at the request of Catherine to win Francis over from Mary. Not long after Olivia's return, Mary becomes Jealous of Francis' affection towards Olivia since he had kissed her. She later sought comfort in Sebastian, they kissed and when they did Francis caught them in the act. He and Mary then drifted apart and he drifted towards Olivia causing Mary to be angry and jealous. However Francis' love for Mary was very strong and he chose her over Olivia. (See Mary and Olivia.) Appearances Name *'Mary' is a feminine given name which is the usual English form of Maria, which was the Latin form of the New Testament Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam) and Μαρια (Maria) - the spellings are interchangeable - which were from the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam).. The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories including "sea of bitterness", "rebelliousness", and "wished for child". However it was most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from mry "beloved" or mr "love". *'Stuart' is a surname of Scottish origin,and also an occupational name for an administrative official of an estate or steward, from Old English stig "house" and weard "guard". The Stewart family (sometimes spelled Stuart) held the Scottish crown for several centuries; one of the most famous members of the Stewart family was Mary, Queen of Scots. Trivia *Mary Stuart of Scotland was born December 8, 1542, became Queen of Scots ''at 6 days old, and died on February 8, 1587, at the age of 44. *Mary was arranged to marry Francis when she was a small child, and moved to France later that year for protection. *At the age of 10 she was supposed to marry Prince Edward of England, a union between England and Scotland. When Mary was 6 months old the treaty was signed. *Mary had two brothers who died at infancy, two half-brothers from her mother's first marriage who died in childhood, and several illegitimate siblings on her father's side. *She has a dog named Stirling. **Probably named after the city and castle of Stirling where Mary was crowned queen. *Historically, television version of Nostradamus is correct when he says that a marriage between Mary and Francis would cause Francis' death. Though Mary doesn't directly cause Francis' death, Francis would only "reign" for about a year (though he was subjected to having several regents). *Her first kiss was Francis in ''Kissed. *Mary was officially engaged to Tomas for less than an episode (Hearts and Minds). *Her life is a tragic story with losing Francis and then getting deposed in favour for her young son. Though she didn't get to reign in Scotland too long, she is the eleventh great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II (through her son James, granddaughter Elizabeth Stuart, and great-granddaughter Sophia of Hanover who is the ancestor that UK law states that current succession comes from). *Adelaide Kane, the actress playing Mary, is a descendant of Mary, Queen of Scots and The House of Stuart through her mother's side. *She's the cousin of Elizabeth I. *A portrait of Claude of France, King Henry's mother, hangs in Mary's chamber. *She knows how to milk a goat, she was taught by the nuns. *She's right handed. Gallery See Also ---- Category:Character Category:Main Character Category:Season One Character Category:Season Two Character Category:Protagonist Category:Scottish Category:French Court Resident Category:House of Stuart Category:House of Valois Category:Royal Category:Queen Category:Catholic Category:Female Character Category:Featured Article